Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Minister of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has announced that the U.S. government will no longer publish research in major medical journals, sparking controversy. The academic community has strongly opposed this, stating that the independence and reliability of scientific research are at risk.
On the 27th (local time), Minister Kennedy appeared on the podcast "Ultimate Human" and said, "Major medical journals such as The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), and JAMA have become corrupt under the influence of pharmaceutical companies," adding, "I will not submit U.S. government research results to these journals in the future." He also hinted that "an HHS journal will be launched," with the statement reported by The Washington Post (WP) on the 28th.
The three journals he mentioned were all founded in the 19th century and are considered among the most prestigious medical journals in the world. JAMA is published by the American Medical Association (AMA) and has significant influence, with over 30 million visits to its homepage annually alongside The Lancet. NEJM is also a global media outlet read by more than one million people every week.
Minister Kennedy on the same day also criticized major institutions such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), calling them "puppets of pharmaceutical companies." He asserted that if NIH researchers were to publish papers in the HHS journal, it would become the most prestigious medium.
However, the academic community is strongly opposing this. Adam Gaafney, a professor at Harvard Medical School, criticized, "If NIH-funded research is published only in a minister-approved journal, the legitimacy of public research will be compromised," noting that "the Trump administration has undermined the independence and transparency of science by cutting public health budgets and interfering in various announcements."
Minister Kennedy has recently been at the center of controversy. He disregarded CDC recommendations and announced that he would halt recommendations for COVID-19 vaccinations for healthy pregnant women and children, which sparked controversy given that this move came shortly after he led the release of the "MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) report."
The report contains claims that contradict scientific consensus on vaccine safety and efficacy, and according to WP, some content has been found to include distortions of scientific papers.
There is also an analysis suggesting that the trend of science undervaluation, which has persisted since the Trump administration took office, is having a negative impact across U.S. academia. In April, the federal prosecutor's office in Washington, D.C., sent a query to the journal "Chest" regarding its editorial policies, leading to criticisms of infringing upon academic freedom. The NIH budget has been cut by approximately $3 billion (about 4.15 trillion won) from the beginning of President Trump’s term until March of this year, which has caused major U.S. universities to struggle with securing research funding.
HHS has also conducted a large-scale restructuring, laying off about 20,000 federal employees across all departments. As a result, movements for scientists to leave for overseas have been detected, and countries in Europe such as France, Germany, and Spain are actively trying to attract them.
Meanwhile, the journals criticized by Minister Kennedy have not yet officially commented on his statements, according to WP.